Empowering women thorough micro finance: Status and emerging challenges

Concern with women’s access to credit and contributions to women empowerment are not new. In India, the trickle down effects of macroeconomic policies have failed to resolve the problem of gender inequality. The empowerment of women and improvement of their status and economic role need to be integrated into development programs, as the development of any country is inseparably linked with status and development of women. One of the powerful tools of women empowerment and rural entrepreneurship is micro finance. This paper seeks to examine the impact and necessities of micro finance with respect to socio-economic empowerment of rural women. An effort is also made to suggest some corrective measures to overcome the problem to enhance women empowerment.